Ham retainer



March 15, 1932. R. E. JORDAN HAM RETAINER Filed Feb. 4. 192e W/ 17M MWIIf iw@ j w .mw ab /72Z707 @567215 @dem M Patented Mar. 15, 1932 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT E. JORDAN, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNORT'O R. E. JORDAN & C0., INC.,

F BALTIMORE, MARYLAND' HAM RETAINER Application led February 4, 1928.

My invention relates to ham retainers in which the hams are cookedVunder pressure and has for its principal object the provision Y ofimproved means for holding the retainer cover against a ham within theretainer under suitable pressure.

In ham retainers of this character it is customary to press the coverdown by some sort of resilient means which willV give a continuous butyielding pressure at all times upon the contents of the container.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provide such a resilient meanswhich will distribute the pressure on the cover evenly throughout thelength thereof.

A further purpose of the invention is toA provide a mounting for theresilient means whereby the pressure may be easily applied or easilyreleased by a simple operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel means forsupporting the cover and resilient means that will serve to guide thecover and said resilient means in the movement of the cover downwardlyto compress the contents Vof the retainer and that cannot be displacedby the rough handling to which these retainers are subjected. Thisguiding of the cover is particularly advantageous in that it enables'theham to be compressed into evenfcross section, that is, of the samethickness from side to side, thus avoiding a lop-sided product.

It is also an object of this invention to so mount the springs which areutilized to press the cover downwardly upon the contents of the retainerthat the cover may have a wide range of movement while under pressurefrom the springs without permanent distortion of the springs.

Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will appear as thedescription proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings.However, it is to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to limitmyself to the exact details shown and described, but that I intend toavail myself of all such modiications ask would occur to one skilled inthis art and as fall within the scope of the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l isv a top plan view of the retainer Serial No. 251,893.

with portions thereof broken away for the sake of clearness;

i g. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; an

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates thecontainer which may be made of any suitable metal for this purpose, thetop edge of this container 5 being fiared outwardly as at 6 tofacilitate the application of a cover thereto. The cover is illustratedgenerally by the numeral 7 and has its outer edge curved downwardly asindicated at 8 in Fig. 2 so as to fit snugly within the container 5.

In order to provide means for pressing the cover downward upon thecontents in the container, I mount at the opposite ends of the containera pair of upwardly extending posts 9 and 10 which project above the topof the container and are provided with the ratchet teeth indicated at 11and 12 on their adjacent faces. I then provide a channel bar 14 whichchannel bar has mounted adjacent the ends thereof a pair of ratchet dogsor pawls 15 and 16 which as shown clearly in Fig. 2 are adapted to swingabout their pivots away from the teeth 1l and 12 as bar 14 is presseddownwardly, but which normally lie in the position shown in Fig. 2 so asto engage beneath the ratchet teeth 11 and 12 and hold the bar 14againstmovement away from the container 5.

Depending from the bar 14 and secured thereto by means of the bolts 17and 18 are a pair of spring members 19 and 20 each of which is coiledaround its respective bolt and has a pair of depending diverging springarms indicated by the numerals 21, 22, 23, and 211. The free ends ofthese spring arms arek turned up as at 25 so as to provide a smoothrounded surface for engagement with the top of the cover 7. The boltsare provided with loose sleeves as indicated at 17 about which thesprings are coiled.

Thus it will be seen that upon applying pressure to the bar 14.1, thispressure will be communicated to the cover 7 by means of the springs 19and 2O and their respective 100 saV fil

spring arms at four different points along the top of the cover. Thisevenly distributes the pressure on the cover and tends to hold it morenearly in the proper position than is the oase with the fewer number ofsupporting points on the cover. It is also to be noted in thisconnection that applicant has in reality only two springs but each bybeing provided with a pair of diverving arms applies pressure to thecover at 2 spaced points. It is obvious of course that a greater numberof springs may be used it considered necessary.

'lhe cover is provided with a cliannelled member 2G extendinglongitudinally thereotI and secured thereto in any suitable manner. Thischannellcd member as shown clearly in Fig. 3 is divided by means ot thepartition 27 into a pair of channels each ot which is adapted to receiveone ot the legs of each spring. That is to say the spring arms 22 and 24will ride in the channel 28 while the spring arms 21 and 23 will beguided in the channel 29. This insures that the spring arms will bedirected in the proper direction at all times and that the adjacent armsof two springs will not bump into each other and in this way bedistorted out oi' their normal shape. The spring arms oi' the springs bysliding longitudinally in their respective channels permit ot' a largevariation in the position of the cover relative to the bar 14 withoutdistorting the spring permanently since the spring arms 21 and 22 may beflexed through a considerable distance owing to the length thereof andthe space between the supporting points at 17 and 18 and their freeends.

I also provide upstanding pins or bolts 8O secured to the cover whichbolts pass through openings 31 in the channel member 14 in order toserve as guides for the channel 14 in its movement up and down relativeto the cover. These bolts also serve with the nuts 32 as a means forholding the cover and the spring means carried by the member 14 togetheras a unit.

The uprights 11 and 12 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 extend throughapertures at the ends of the cross bar and serve not only as ratchetposts but also as guides to direct the cross bar in a true downward pathas it is pressed down toward the receptacle. Since the cover itselfcannot move laterally in the casing, the holding of the cross bar aboveit in true vertical alignment together with the bolts prevents lateraltipping of the cover and thus insures a product of even thickness fromside to side. The uprights holding the cross bar, the cross bar guidingthe pins or bolts 30, and the cover iixed to these bolts and held by thereceptacle against swinging around the cross bar as a pivot all combineto insure the compression of the ham without making it uneven inthickness. This also prevents any danger of the cross bar and coverbeing knocked oil by rough handling. This construction with the guiderods 30 insures proper positioning of the cover and the ratchet and dogconstruction makes a quick releasable means for holding the cover underthe required pressure at all times.

From the above description it is thought that the construction andadvantages of this device will be clear to those skilled in this art andhaving thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A ham retainer comprising a receptacle constituting a mold for a hamor the like, a. cover fitted slidably within the receptacle forcompressing the ham, a member extending across said receptacle abovesaid cover, a plurality of springs having coiled portions pivotallysecured to said member and spaced from each other each of said springshaving downwardly diverging spring arms slidably engaging said cover andyieldingly pressing said cover away trom said member, and meansconnecting said member and receptacle 'for preventing movement ot saidmember away from said receptacle.

2. A ham retainer comprising a receptacle constituting a mold for a hamor the like,

a cover titted slidably within the receptacle tor compressing the ham, amember extending across said receptacle above said cover, a plurality ofsprings having central coiled portions pivotally secured to said memberand spaced from each other, each of said springs having downwardlydiverging spring arms slidably engaging said cover and yieldinglypressing said cover away from said member, guide means on said cover:tor guiding the free ends of said spring arms in their sliding movementon said cover, and means connecting said member and receptacle forpreventing movement of said member away from said receptacle, said lastnamed means including uprights projecting from said receptacle upwardlythrough said member and preventing lateral movement of said memberrelative to said receptacle.

3. A ham retainer comprising a receptacle constituting a mold 'for a hamor the like, a cover fitted slidably within the receptacle torcompressing the ham, a member extending across said receptacle abovesaid cover, a plurality of springs secured to said member and spacedfrom each other, each of said springs having downwardly diverging springarms slidably engaging said cover and yieldingly pressing said coveraway from said member, said cover having a pair of channels thereon, oneof said channels receiving one arm of each spring and the other channelreceiving the other arm thereof, and means connecting said member andreceptacle for preventing movement of said member away from saidreceptacle. A

4. A ham retainer comprising a receptacle constituting a mold for a hamor the like, a cover fitted slidably within the receptacle forcompressing the ham, oppositely disposed uprights rigidly secured tosaid receptacle and projecting thereabove, a member having its oppositeends connected with said uprights for vertical sliding movement, saiduprights having a close fit with said member thereby preventing lateralor endwise movement of said member, resilient means connecting saidmember and said cover, and means for preventing movement of said memberaway from said receptacle, said cover having guide means thereonprojecting upwardly through said member whereby sidewise tipping of saidcover is prevented.

In witness whereof, I hereunto ksubscribe my name this 6th day ofJanuary A. D. 1928.

ROBERT E. JORDAN.

